S.O.S #1 - ViSiT your stash!

I'm sending out an S.O.S to my quilty comrades who are getting on board with The Year of The Stash. Nope, I'm not drowning in scraps and stacks of stash, I'm offering up some Stash Organization Suggestions!

Part of the reason quilters don't use their stash is that they've forgotten what treasures are in there. There's gold in them there hills! Okay. Maybe not actual gold. But potentially the perfect gold fabric to go with that Hanukah fabric. You know, if you have Hanukah fabric.

Wanna get organized? Well, here's my handy acronym for you - VST. Think ViSiT. Like visit your stash, not your LQS.

Visible
I like to be able to see my fabric. Yes, I know all about the deteriorating horrors of sunlight. The bulk of my stash lives in a closet, but the door is always open. (No, you can't come take some.) But my Konas live on open shelving. They make me happy to look at and I have good history of inventory turnover with Konas, so I don't worry so much about sun fade. The pros outweigh the cons for me.

Sorted
I sort by colour. But also by type. For example, I have folded stacks of the colours of the rainbow (except yellow & orange - they're one stack). But I also have a stack for Christmas prints, for batiks (yes, there are still some in my stash), as well as for neutrals. I have a large stack for fabrics destined to be backings. and Konas live apart from prints.

Tidy
Full disclosure: I used to have a sign rather like this one on the door of my childhood bedroom.

 

But honestly, how can you use your stash if it's a mess?! And if it's spread all over the house? Here's my system. I wash my fabric when I buy it (well, once I get home). And I wash it with clothes. And regular laundry soap. Yup, I'm a pre-washing rebel. It gets stored on the shelf of my ironing board until I can iron it... ASAP. It gets measured, folded, and added to the stacks. For Konas, they get labeled by name. More about my OCD labeling system in the S.O.S. #2!

So there you have it. ViSiT your stash today. Pull it all out of the boxes, bags, Rubbermaid totes and really look at it. You can do it. It's all part of the fun of...

If you've got an S.O.S. to share, give 'er. That means "Go ahead.. leave a comment!" for those of you not familiar with Nova Scotian vernacular!

J

P.S. I've linked up with Tips and Tutorials Tuesdays @ Late Night Quilter now that it's back up and running!